Purpose & Priority — Living The Everyday

Dec 30

Dec 30 Purpose & Priority

As I sat and read from Psalm 49 this morning I couldn’t help but read it over and over again writing notes, underlining, and highlighting. And then - reflecting.

A new year is upon us. With that, many reflect and create goals for what they would like to see or accomplish moving forward.

I did.

Reflection is how we grow, how we give thanks, how we analyze what we could, should, would, do better. Goals help us achieve those reflections. Goals are purposeful and help us put into motion what we hope to accomplish.

But -

Without Christ at the center of our reflections and goals, these tasks we will soon begin to strive towards become “self” driven and “self” focused. They become about us. What WE will do. What WE will accomplish. What WE will achieve. Thus continuing the cycle of what our world is about: The Self.

And to think those who profess to be Believers are exempt from this would be an incorrect view.

We as Believers - those who profess Christ as Savior and God of this World, can easily slip into a self-driven and self-focused life when we begin to believe that God created us to fulfill all our hopes and dreams, with our goals at the center. We begin to think that God will put His “God stamp of approval” on all things we conjure up and think of just because we believe in Him. As if we are some consolation prize for God. God did not create us just to fulfill our goals and dreams - He created us to Worship and follow Him. (Side note: One of my favorite books regarding this subject is The Call by Os Guinness.)

Yet in reality, when we choose to Believe in Christ, who is God of this Universe, we remove ourselves from the steering wheel and allow Him to be the Driver of all that we are. We move from bondage from our own ideas, to freedom in moving where the Holy Spirit (God) directs us. And while we begin to make plans, we know that God will determine where our footsteps will go (Proverbs 16:9).

This freedom begins when we choose to know His Word and make it a priority in our lives DAILY. Knowing God’s Word of Truth should be our number one goal - our number one daily priority. When we know God’s Word - we know how we ought to live. When we live by God’s Word we allow Him to begin to redefine and refine the purpose of our lives.

Is it easy? No. Absolutely not.

Choosing to allow God’s Word to refine and remove what doesn’t belong in our lives takes determination, submission, and surrender. No one summits Mount Everest in one day. It takes training - consistency - and when it feels hard, because it will be, know that Christ has conquered all. He has already gone before you and paved the way. We just need to follow.

Is it life-giving? 100% Yes.

Is there freedom? Oh my - SO much!

Why? Because WE are no longer at the center of our universe. It’s no longer about us but about HIM. We have removed ourselves and replaced it with God at the center.

And this changes everything.

It changes how we view our days. How we love our family. How we see this world and the people who dwell in it. It changes our choices, our thoughts, our purpose. It changes our goals and how we choose to live. It changes how we think and reflect. It pulls our destructive minds out of the pit and turns our eyes towards Christ.

The ONLY way we can live a life driven and directed by God is to make and know God’s Word and have it be our main goal. God’s Word should reign supreme in our lives. But know this - merely reading God’s Word should not be the goal of 2023. Doing what it says should be how we live for 2023 (James 1:22).

Before Jesus ascended into Heaven, He gave every Believer a very clear purpose and calling. A calling that is not confusing. It is very black and white: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

As you take time to reflect and create goals for 2023, I pray and hope that we who profess to be Believers would set God’s Word as our number one priority and that we would live our lives like Christ. (1 John 2:3-6)

Here are a few tools to assist in placing God’s Word as a daily priority in our lives. But know this - reading God’s Word daily does not necessarily mean reading through the Bible in a Year. It means reading God’s Word daily with purpose and placing it as a priority.